The Frog and The Ape
by blu-eyed-demon
Summary: Rocky and Adam need to have a little chat after Dulcea helps them get into touch with their spirit animals. SLASH


The Frog and The Ape

Adam sat close to the dying fire for warmth as, close by, his fellow Rangers slept. They'd agreed to leave at least one awake at any time in case of attack and Adam didn't mind so much, it was practical and he was still too wired from the events of the day to sleep.

The fate of Angel Grove, and the world, rested on their shoulders but that was really business as usual for Adam at this point, he'd been Ranger for long enough now that threats of apocalypse never usually phased him anymore. They'd always save the day because that was what they did, but this time it felt different. Zordon was dying, they'd lost all of their powers and they were who knows how many light-years away on a strange planet. If they failed, they could all die here and the Earth would belong to Ivan and he'd never see his family again. God only knows what would happen to them with Ivan running the show. There was so much at stake and it all seemed so very real and so much more terrifying than ever before. He'd never let it on to the others of course, they were meant to be brave and stoic Rangers charging off to save the day, not scared teenagers.

Hearing movement behind him and slightly to his left, he sprang up into his default 'en garde' position, ready to defend himself and his friends from attack.

"It's just me." Said a familiar voice just outside the ring of light the fire cast. The voice was hushed so as not to disturb the others. Adam breathed a sigh of relief, it was only Rocky.

"You scared me." He stated needlessly, slowly sinking down to sit on the hunk of broken stone once more.

"We're all scared," The Red Ranger replied as he sat down next to him. "Couldn't sleep, figured you could use the company or, you know, sleep yourself."

They didn't say anything for a long time, they just sat side by side and stared into the glowing embers. Adam found he felt less afraid, less despairing of the whole situation with Rocky by his side. It was the way they'd always been, ever since they'd been small kids. They just fit together somehow, balanced each other out and made one another stronger. That was why they so often fought side by side, it had gotten to the point where they only needed a look or a few syllables exchanged and they'd have an entire game plan for battle. Their relationship had become so close over the years that sometimes Adam wondered if they had formed some kind of telepathic link.

Tonight wasn't one of those times, it was one of those rare moments when Adam had no clue what Rocky was thinking outside of the obvious. Sure, the Red Ranger was scared like him but there was something else too, Rocky wasn't responding to Adam the way he usually would.

When Adam lightly brushed his thigh against Rocky's, his whole body stiffened slightly before pulling away. The same thing happened again when Adam tried to place his hand over Rocky's which had been sitting flat on the rock between them. He couldn't understand why, all the other Rangers were fast asleep and surely now more than ever he needed the comfort of contact? Adam knew he certainly did.

He reached up and pulled back the hood of his new black ninja uniform to uncover his face before half turning to face the other teen who was still staring fixedly into the dying fire.

"Rocky." No response, no sign that he had even heard Adam, though the Black Ranger was certain he had despite their need to whisper. "What's wrong?"

"You know what's wrong." Rocky's voice sounded strangely flat. He'd never heard the normally chipper and happy-go-lucky Ranger sound so down before and it cut Adam deep. He was sure he'd caused this but couldn't understand how. He hadn't done anything, in fact he couldn't remember speaking or being near Rocky since Dulcea had conducted the ceremony to help them get in touch with their spirit animals. That was unusual in itself, Adam now realised. He would have realised sooner only his mind had been preoccupied with all the other events of the day.

"I don't, Rocky. Please, just tell me so I can make it right." Adam said softly, not quite begging but close to it. Though not yet tired, he did feel emotionally drained and just couldn't muster the energy required for this. He just wanted to feel the warm comfort of Rocky's embrace instead of his cold shoulder.

Behind the red ninja hood, Rocky seemed to struggle with his emotions. With only his eyes visible, it was amazing and startling to Adam how expressive those warm brown eyes were. He didn't need to see any other facial features to know how torn and hurt Rocky was right now.

"She kissed you." Was what he eventually said after well over a minute of inner-debate had passed and Adam felt like hitting the other teen for being so stupid.

"After all we've been through, all we've done, you're honestly jealous of a woman who kissed my forehead?" He asked, trying his hardest not to sound too incredulous lest he insult Rocky further.

"She kissed you in front of everyone and no one batted an eyelid. I'll never have that, will I?"

"It was your choice to hide." Adam reminded him, his hand came up to rest on Rocky's shoulder but after a moment it was shrugged off again.

"No, I didn't want to tell the parents, Dad would freak out and Abuela would try to exorcise us or something..." Rocky pointed out, still not looking at him and his voice entirely too even for it to be natural. "You're the one who decided to hide from everyone."

"Like you said, we'd never have that...normalcy. There'd always be stares, mutters...school would be worse than..." He trailed off into his own thoughts.

Adam couldn't help expecting the worst of his classmates when he remembered how life had been before Rocky and before he'd found martial arts. As a young kid he'd been an easy target: he'd been small for his age and shy not to mention he'd been the only Asian kid in his elementary school. If he thought that the teasing and beatings for those 'offences' had been bad, he didn't know what would happen if the whole school found out he had a boyfriend. Something far worse, no doubt.  
>Sure, he was a ranger now but he couldn't just use his powers against other teenagers, he was pretty certain that went against Zordon's rules. Thinking of Zordon had brought him full circle once more, back to his fears for his mentor's life and the fate of the world that was resting on their shoulders.<p>

"Adam." Rocky's voice grounded him again, he blinked and found that the Red Ranger had finally turned to face him. "I didn't mean to...I just wish I could kiss you in public and people would just smile and be cool with it like when Dulcea kissed you. That's all."

"Me too but that's not going to happen any time soon." Adam shrugged as though it didn't matter so much when really it killed him to know that he was fighting to defend a world that wouldn't even accept him for who he was. "What's one more secret right?"

"Right," Rocky agreed and when Adam reached up to pull the red hood back, he didn't pull away. His expression was bitter-sweet as the Black Ranger's fingers traced his red head band, teasing a few loose strands of hair affectionately. "Promise me one thing though, Ad?"

"Yeah?" Adam lent in a little as Rocky's voice noticeably dropped quieter again, his hand moved lower to his caress boyfriend's cheek, his thumb gently stroking tanned skin. It wasn't often that he saw Rocky this sombre and it worried him: hiding their relationship was supposed to protect them not depress them.

Rocky's hand came up and took Adam's in his own, fingertips lightly running over the back of his hand lightly "Promise me, after we save the world that we can talk about telling the others?"

Adam's eyes flitted over to the sleeping forms of their friends, barely visible in the dark. He knew he should trust them with this, he trusted them with his life on a daily basis after all, but he was still scared they'd turn. There was always that risk after all.

His eyes returned to Rocky's and he half smiled nervously. "Yeah, promise."

Lips were on his almost immediately, the kiss was soft and tender and all too brief. Adam sighed softly as their lips parted. He then smiled at the other teen, a real smile not the embarrassed kind he's worn when Dulcea had kissed him.

Lightly, he rested his forehead against Rocky's as he asked jokingly "Have I turned into your handsome Prince?"

"Nah," Rocky chuckled as he affectionately rubbed his nose against Adam's."There's no way this can be improved on."

Adam grinned, feeling his cheeks warm a little from the compliment as he lent in to kiss his boyfriend again and Rocky added "My gorgeous froggie."

Fighting the urge to laugh with Rocky, he pulled away from the other Ranger. "That's it, no more kisses for you monkey boy!"

"I think you'll find I'm an ape." His boyfriend corrected with a mock-serious face.

After looking over and checking that everyone else were still fast asleep, Adam moved to straddle the Red Ranger's lap with a smirk. "Does that mean hot monkey sex after the world doesn't end is out of the question?"

"Oh hell no, we're definitely doing that!" Rocky's hands lightly rested on Adam's hips and his expression became serious again for a moment "Have I told you recently how much I love you?"

"I love you too." Adam replied softly, knowing that the next 24 hours might be their last if they failed in their quest or lost in battle to Ivan. "So much."

Rocky's seriousness left as suddenly as it came and his face split into a grin. "Now kiss me, Kermit!"


End file.
